Animal Tests for Anxiety

In behavioral neurosciences, animal models enable investigation of brain-behavior relations, with the aim of gaining insight into human behavior and its underlying processes. Beyond doubt, the most significant information derives from the study of humans, but this is not always possible due to ethical, methodological, and/or economical constraints. Alternatively, a comparative approach that relies on animal models could be used to reach these goals. This approach is based on the evolutionary theory proposing that fundamental aspects of the behavior of humans are shared with other animals (Nesse 1999; Panksepp et al. 2002). The ground for this proposal was established by Charles Darwin, by means of his book entitled The Expression of Emotions in Man and Animals (Darwin 1872).